The drag queen dressed in a green Afro wig, a red miniskirt and
candy-cane-striped stockings, had the duty of announcing the notables
marching down Fifth Avenue in the gay pride march. She introduced Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, and
the onlookers who had gathered along the parade route politely
applauded.

But when she bellowed, “Let’s hear it for the governor of New York, David Paterson!” the crowd roared.

Quinn, who is openly gay, says, "I predicted a hero’s welcome for him. And I think my expectations have been blown out of the water. Gov. Paterson is going to get a hero's welcome down Fifth Avenue. I think people feel a tremendous sense of hope because of what
he did."

The Times describes Paterson as one of the "few governors [who] have made advancing gay rights as central to their policy making" and reports he "becomes the state's first serving governor to march in a gay pride parade." The governor says "he attended his first parade in 1976 at the urging of a gay friend and had walked in them on and off ever since. 'But then we learned that wasn’t cool because you couldn’t hear the music in the back. So we moved up.' "

The Daily News also profiles the governor's hero's welcome in the parade but with more gay-on-the street testimonials "He's starting a whole new movement here," says Rebecca Goodman, a 17-year-old student from Brooklyn who is "straight and came to the parade to support her gay friends." Another man, 27-year-old Xavier Rojas of New Jersey, hopes Paterson's decision will influence other states to follow his lead. "It should be recognized in Idaho, in Utah, everywhere," he said. "We all want to be treated equally."